This invention relates in general to a holding arrangement for a pane and in particular to a holding arrangement for a pane such as a windshield for a motor vehicle, whereby the windshield is connected to an elastomer profile by an adhesive means, with the profile in turn being fitted onto a flange of the windshield frame.
In German Published Unexamined patent application (DE-OS) No. 32 10 106, an arrangement for holding a pane of this type is described. In this arrangement the elastomer profile has a flat surface on its upper side where the pane is to be adhesively attached by means of a thin layered adhesive element. Because the adhesive element is not able to compensate for manufacturing tolerances in this arrangement, local leakage points between the wave edge of the pane and the frame of the pane may result. Additionally, this arrangement provides that the elastomer profile be connected with the pane before the mounting onto the frame of the pane, thereby requiring the elastomer profile to be relatively soft and flexible in order to permit the subsequent assembling of the combined elastomer profile and pane unit with the frame. As a result, the pane will not be retained in the frame of the pane to an extent required by certain laws, such as the laws of the United States of America, should the pane be subjected to shock caused by an accident.
In another German Published Unexamined patent application (DE-OS) No. 31 31 529, a holding arrangement for a pane is described where the pane is fastened at the flange of the frame by an adhesive element constructed as a polyurethane bonding agent in string-shape form. An elastomer profile is fitted onto the free end of the flange which holds the pane at a distance from the contact surface. This arrangement exhibits the disadvantage in that should removal of the pane be required because scratches are found after final assembly or for repair purposes, such removal would be costly. This is because of the necessity of having to separate the adhesive element from the flange of the frame by chiseling when removing the pane. This is not only time-consuming, but also carries the risk that the flange may be deformed because of the chiseling, thereby resulting in misalignment of the flange and the subsequently reinstalled pane.
Since this arrangement provides that the adhesive element be arranged next to the elastomer profile, the flange of the frame must have a relatively large width, which significantly impairs the flexibility of design in the area. A large amount of bonding agent is also required because of the resulting distance between the pane and the flange, thereby increasing the cost of this assembling.
It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide an improved holding arrangement for a windshield pane.
It is further an object of the invention to provide an improved holding arrangement which will reduce the amount of bonding agent required for securely holding the pane and thus reduce the cost of the assembly.
It is another object of the invention to provide an improved holding arrangement in which process tolerances are adequately compensated for.
It is also an object of the invention to provide an improved holding arrangement in which the pane is held securely in the frame even if subjected to forces caused by an accident.
The above and other other objects are attained by a holding arrangement whereby the pane is firmly connected to an elastomer profile by an adhesive element. In a preferred embodiment, the profile is fitted onto a flange of a frame of the pane by a U-shaped clamping part having a metallic reinforcing insert. The profile also includes a supporting part for holding the pane at a distance to the frame, and a local recess for receiving a string-shaped adhesive element. The adhesive element provided in this recess is at the top side of the supporting part and extends in the direction of the pane.
The recess is formed by a trough-shaped groove limited by two lips, one facing the edge of the pane, the other facing away from the edge. The lip facing the edge is led to a bordering of the pane's edge whereas the lip facing away from the edge is of a fold-type which rests against the pane while being prestressed.
The advantages achieved by this invention are that by means of the above arrangement of the elastomer profile and the string-shaped bonding agent, process tolerances can easily be compensated and the pane is held in the frame securely and according to regulations.
Also because of the narrow distance between the groove of the profile's recess and the pane, the required quantity of bonding agent can be reduced significantly. In addition, the application of the bonding agent into the groove makes the assembly easier since the location of the bonding agent is clearly defined.
The two lips of the elastomer profile prevent an undesirable spreading of the adhesive element over the windshield, in which case the fold-type lip facing away from the edge of the pane always, while being prestressed, rests against the interior side of the windshield. By means of an arrangement of a contraction of area and of a hollow space at the supporting part, an easy separation of the elastomer profile is ensured in the case of repairs since the remaining webs have a small wall thickness.
Further objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description when taken with the accompanying drawings which show, for purposes of illustration only, an embodiment constructed in accordance with the present invention.